Transcript

00:00:02

>> By some account, Islamic State's recruitment campaign is highly sophisticated, but that doesn't mean the recruits are, too. Australian police have detained five men they say were trying to travel overseas to join and put the militants by boat. It wasn't exactly a stealth mission, the men towed a small fishing vessel almost 3,000 kilometers, that's around 1,800 miles up Australia's east coast.

00:00:24

And were apparently ready to cross the open sea for Indonesia, and from there, head to Syria. They had been on a terror watch list and had had their passports cancelled, so it seems the boat was their only option.>> It's not a common occurrence, I would suggest people try and do get to Syria by a boat, but I don't have the exact figures for sure But we do know that a lot of people are trying to get to Syria to fight and so we continue to disrupt what we can.

00:00:50

>> The five haven't been charged yet, but under Australia's tough new security powers, people who travel to areas off limits like Islamic State stronghold in Syria, could face up to ten years in jail. That hasn't stopped everyone. Australia estimates about 100 of its citizens have made the trip although most likely not by boat.